Saving Scarlett Read Online Free PDF

safe.”
    She lifted her head slowly.  “No, it’s not.  I don’t want you to get hurt.  You should go, right now.”
    She spoke the words, but she didn’t try to push them away.
    “We’re not leaving without you, sweetheart,” Ray said.
    She swallowed audibly.  “It’s dangerous.  Damn it, it’s too dangerous.”  She pressed her forehead to Wes’s chest and grabbed a handful of his hair.  “Don’t let me go.”
    Ray chuckled.  “You’re sounding a little mixed up, Scarlett.  Come on, sweet love, tell us everything and then listen to what we have to say.”
    She lifted her head and went up on her toes, brushing her lips across Wes’s.  An electric shock slipped through him and he groaned as the all-too-quick kiss ended and she reached for Ray to kiss him.
    She led them to the couch and they sat on either side of her.  Wes couldn’t ignore the packing boxes sitting around the front room, although it didn’t look like she’d actually done much packing.
    She took one of their hands in each of hers and sighed.  “The male my father chose for me is coming tomorrow for our mating ceremony.  I’m supposed to be packed up.  This afternoon I’m supposed to go to my parents’ home and stay for the night, and then after the ceremony I don’t know where I’ll be living.”
    “Just like that?” Ray asked incredulously.  “Some guy shows up and you go with him, no questions asked?”
    “It’s not like I chose this life, Ray,” she protested.  “It’s my genetic destiny.  The fathers choose the mates for their daughters, and the daughters smile through the whole farce and swear on their lives to be faithful to the chosen mate for the rest of their lives.”
    She stood abruptly and whipped around to face them.  Her voice was a harsh whisper.  “Do you think I wanted to leave like a thief?  That I liked swearing Melody to secrecy so you didn’t come up here and get hurt?  Do you have any idea what my father would do to you if he found out that you came here for me because of what happened between us?”
    Ray stood slowly, his eyes dark and his lips pulled over his blunt teeth.  “I don’t give a fuck what your father wants, Scarlett.  Wes and I only care that you’re allowed to make your own choice for your future.  Tell us what you want.”
    Her eyes glimmered with tears.  “I want you both, but I have no illusions that my father won’t kill you if he finds out about this.”
    Wes stood and joined them, placing his hand on Scarlett’s back.  She was trembling.  “We want to mark you and be with you forever.  No matter what your father’s plans are, he can’t ignore a physical mating between us.  After things cool down, you can contact your father and tell him what happened.  For now, come with us.  No one in Ashland knows where we’re going.  We both knew you were ours the moment we saw you during Melody’s wedding, and our cats were driving us bananas.  Your genetics don’t matter to us.  Tell us you feel the mate-pull between us.”
    She blinked and tears slipped over her cheeks.  “I do.  I don’t know what it means because Breeding Queens don’t have truemates, but I feel in my heart that we belong together.”
    “How could you leave us?”  Ray asked the question on Wes’s mind.
    “I was trying to save your lives, but I can’t walk away from you again.  It would kill me.”
    “We’re safer together,” Ray pointed out.  “Come with us.  We’ll keep you hidden forever if you’re really choosing us as your mates.”
    A small smile curved her trembling lips.  “I can’t explain it, but I know I’m yours.”
    “Pack your things.  Fast,” Ray said.
    Scarlett raced out of the room and Ray collapsed onto the couch with a groan.  “I wasn’t sure she was going to say yes.”
    Wes rubbed at the space over his heart.  “Me, either.  Melody never said that she was keeping away from us because she was worried her father would kill us if